False Pretenses
by of self
Summary: The result of a phone call fight with Cousin Vicki finds Casey pretending to date Derek. But suddenly they find themselves wishing that this pretend relationship was for real. Pretend dating was never this complicated. Complete.
1. You Said What?

_/N: my first ever proper Dasey chapter fic. I hope you like it._

_Disclaimer: I do not own LwD_.

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_Click_.

Casey stared at the phone, horrified and stunned after she put it down with and ominous sounding click. After a few seconds of not being able to breathe, she began hyperventilating. Her big mouth, and the stupid rivalry she had with her cousin Vicki, had gotten her into trouble yet again. She cursed herself over and over.

The conversation had begun as civilly as it could, but then had escalated into a fight. They had both just kept trying to one-up each other. The long and short of the fight was Casey had told Vicki that Derek, yes Derek—her obnoxious, rude and annoying step-brother—was her boyfriend. Silence had reigned for a moment or two before Cousin Vicki had let out a giant, horse-like laugh. And now she was coming here for a vacation.

Casey paced her bedroom nervously. She did not know what had possessed her to say Derek's name. She could just as easily have said that either one of her friends, Sam or Noel, were her boyfriends. Hell, she even could have said Ralph's name. But _no_, she just had to go and say Derek's name of all people.

She didn't know how he was going to take it, for that matter, she did not even know how she was going to break it to him. She could see him bursting a blood vessel or two when she broke this news to him. But most of all how was she going to convince him to play along with the charade? Cause there was no other way out and when it came to Cousin Vicki, Casey _wanted_ to win. And if she had to make him pretend to be her boyfriend in order to orchestrate it and actually win, then so be it. Because let it not be said that Casey McDonald _never_ gave it her all.

She flung herself face down onto her bed and screamed into her pillow, using it to muffle the sound. Finally, she stood up and pushed the hair out of her face. She had no choice but to let him know about his newest girlfriend, and beg and plead with him to go along with this charade as fast as possible, no matter how reprehensible the idea was. He would, of course, extract his revenge and she could foresee a future cleaning his stench filled hockey bag, doing his laundry, and his homework—in general being his slave. She groaned and smacked her head.

Her and stupid rivalry with stupid cousin Vicki.

Casey stood outside Derek's door, debating whether to go in or not. She spent fifteen minutes outside alone arguing with herself.

Finally Derek yanked open the door and asked, "What?"

"Nothing," Casey said with a nonchalance she wasn't feeling.

"It has to be something because I have spent the last fifteen minutes listening to you shuffle your feet. So why don't you go ahead and just spill." Derek said tersely.

"Okay. Can I come in?" Casey asked tentatively.

"Since when have you ever asked permission to come inside my room Space-Case?" Derek asked, one eyebrow raised, his curiosity piqued at the sight of a demure Casey. It was something she never was with him.

Most of their interactions involved her yelling his name multiple times, and calling him a few names. And all of them involved him snickering at the sight of her all worked up.

Taking that as her cue, Casey entered. She made Derek sit down and then she closed the door. Derek was definitely interested now. This was odd behavior from Casey. The only time she came to his room was when she was yelling at him for some prank he pulled on her.

"Derek, I have to tell you something," Casey said heaving a huge sigh.

Derek stiffened. Casey never told him things. And he was not sure he wanted to hear them.

"Casey,I think you should go to Nora for this. I am clearly ill-equipped to handle stuff like this." Derek said tensely. Female problems were _so_ not his area of expertise.

"_Derek_, it's something else. Will you _just_ listen?" Casey asked impatiently, running her hands through her hair.

"Fine. I am listening." Derek said , relieved that would not be fed female problems.

"Cousin Vicki called today to say she was coming for a vacation and I said something to her that I shouldn't have." Casey said looking down at her feet and wishing she were somewhere else.

"_Casey_, its okay if you called her a few words. You are not going to hell." Derek said smirking.

"No, Derek. I didn't call her any words, I said something else…" Casey said, trailing off nervously.

"Well, what was it? Tell me." Derek said impatiently, wondering where the heck this was going.

"I…I may have said something about you being my boyfriend," Casey mumbled in a rush.

"What?" Derek asked, not having heard clearly.

"I said you were my _boyfriend_," Casey said a little louder.

"You said _what_?" Derek said his eyes huge and his voice shocked.

"I said—" Casey began

"I heard what you said. But what possessed you to say _that_?" Derek yelled, looking at Casey as if she had gone mad.

"I don't know," Casey moaned, throwing herself on to Derek's bed while Derek paced around his bedroom like a mad man.

"Why couldn't you say anyone else's name _Casey_? Why mine? Why couldn't you say Sam's name? He already was your boyfriend!" Derek continued pacing and trying—and clearly failing—to take a calm approach to the situation..

"It just slipped out. It was the first name that came to my mind," Casey mumbled, her head buried between the pillows.

"Suffocating your self is not going to help, Casey," Derek barked out as he finally sat down in his chair.

Casey sat up looking petulant and childish.

"And stop sulking, that is not going to help either." Derek tried to wrap his head around what Casey had just said. It was taking his brain quite some time to process the information, and it was doing the processing slowly.

"Well _then_, what do I do?" Casey asked, folding her arms across her chest and glaring at Derek.

"It's obvious. You tell her it was a lie." Derek said calmly.

"Over my dead body! She'll constantly rub it in my face that I lied, and that I don't have a boyfriend. I _refuse_ to live with that!" Casey exclaimed, looking at Derek as if he were crazy.

"Well, maybe you should have thought about that before you decided to lie!" Derek spat out.

"I said it in the heat of the moment. Please, Derek, you have got to help me. I will do what ever you want in exchange—except for washing your undergarments," Casey bargained, pleading.

"As tempting as the offer sounds, _no_," Derek said, pressing his hands against his temples. He could feel a headache coming on.

"But Derek, I'm begging here," Casey said getting down on her knees in a pose reminiscent of praying.

"Casey, this is _just_ weird _beyond_ weird. Ugh." Derek was unable to articulate his discomfort at the thought of them being in a relationship—even if it was fake.

"Derek, it is weird for me too! Believe me; I don't want to be your girlfriend at all. Even a fake one." Casey said, her face taking on a slightly greenish hue as she imagined herself as Derek's girlfriend. "But it's all a pretense. For one week only, and then you can go back to your girls." Casey was now close to groveling.

Finally, Derek crumbled. He wasn't that heartless, after all. She was practically crawling on the floor, and he couldn't refuse to help her. Yeah. _Surprise_, _surprise_. Derek Venturi did have a heart and a conscience.

"Gah! _Fine_." Derek said, running his hands through his hair.

"You do realize that we will have to hide it from the entire family, right? Somehow, I don't think dad and Nora are going to be very pleased with the fact that we are fake dating," Derek said, sitting on his chair once again. He could picture their parents having aneurysms if they found out that their eldest children were dating.

Then there would be Lizzie and Edwin to contend with. With all the snooping those two did, they would surely realize something was up. Maybe they could be taken into confidence.

Judging by the way Casey was looking—dumbstruck and horrified, to be exact—he realized that she hadn't really though of the consequences. It was so unlike Casey. This Vicki chick did get Casey all wound up. Even tighter then she usually was, he amended. Not that he blamed her; he wasn't much of a fan of Vicki either. Especially not after that wedding fiasco.

"Casey, stop freaking. We will let Edwin and Lizzie in on this, and then somehow manage." Derek closed his eyes tiredly; it was after all eleven in the night.

"Thank you so much, Derek! You have no idea how much this means to me." Casey said, flying at Derek to hug him.

"Just because I agreed to save your behind this once does not mean we can have feel good family moments!" Derek tried unsuccessfully to dodge the hug before reluctantly giving in.

"By the way, when is she coming?" Derek asked, disentangling himself from Casey's embrace.

"Tomorrow…" Figuring that this was as good time as any to make an escape, Casey fled.

"_What_?" Derek spat out but only the empty air heard his words. He could feel an even bigger headache coming on.

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_A/N: And how was it? Terrible, bad, awful. Let me know what you thought. :)_

_Edited as of April 19, 2010._


	2. Prepping for a Relationship?

_A/N : here is the second chapter. Thank you all for the amazing response. I seriously wish I could hug you all but I cant because of the constraints of cyber space. Any ways here is hoping you like this chapter. :)_

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Derek was dreaming—dreaming of a lot of things, of pleasant things. So, when someone tried to wake him up, he naturally resisted. However, the person was insistent. He finally cracked an eye open to see Casey standing over him, fully dressed and pulling at his sheets.

"_Casey_, it's six in the _morning_! You better have a reason for waking me up at this un-godly hour." Derek growled as he pulled his pillow over his head.

"Well, I do have one. Vicki is coming in two hours, and we are supposed to be pretend dating!" Casey pulled the pillow off his face, leaning down to say the last part into his ear.

That had the desired effect on Derek as he rolled off the bed and landed on the floor at Casey's feet.

"When did that happen?" Derek said rubbing his head and looking up at Casey horrified.

"_Der_-ek! Remember yesterday night? When you agreed to help me?" Casey asked as she plopped down on Derek's bed.

Slowly the events of yesterday night came flooding back to Derek, piece by piece. He groaned and got up. This was exactly why he wasn't helpful. Helping some one always meant having to go the extra mile. And for Derek, that extra mile was getting up early in order to rehearse being Casey's boyfriend. Even thinking of the word made him shudder.

"At least let me go brush my teeth and wash my face." Derek blearily made his way to the bathroom.

Casey took out a piece of paper from her pocket. In true Casey fashion, she had made a list of what Derek needed to do. The heavens could be opened and hell could be consumed in flames--wait, hell was already consumed in flames—but the point was that, Casey McDonald would never change.

Derek came back, wiping his face on a towel.

"You made a list, didn't you?" he said, not asking a question but stating a fact. Then he threw the towel at her face.

"_Ew_…gross, Derek," Casey said, throwing the towel back and making a disgusted face.

"Also," she continued, turning a faint pink. "So what if I made a list? It'll make this easier, and this way we won't miss any information."

"Fine, go ahead and tell me. What am I supposed to do or be?" Derek sat down next to Casey. The unusual proximity between them was a strange thing. Normally they sat as far away as they could from each other. But now there were more pressing matters at hand, like an entire relationship to fabricate.

Casey made Derek go over the list multiple times. She had, of course, already memorized the list.

One hour later, Derek was having a pop quiz on the list, with Casey rigorously grilling him.

"So, when did we start going out?"

"Two months ago."

"When is our anniversary?'"

"On the 26th."

"What are my favorite flowers?"

"Lilies."

"What is my favorite food?"

"_Uh_—"

"_Derek_! It's tofu fingers!"

The grilling went on until Casey was satisfied that Derek knew at least something about her.

"I have never studied that hard for any test of mine," Derek mused on all the work he had accomplished early on a Saturday morning.

"I am surprised you study at all," Casey said pointedly. Derek looked back at her just as pointedly, and Casey got the message to shut up.

"Now that I have memorized your life history, can I please get dressed and maybe push some food down my stomach?" Derek asked as he got up from the bed.

"Yeah, of course," Casey said as she got up to go downstairs and help her mother who would probably be fretting about all the coming visitors.

"Derek?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks," Casey said before her head disappeared behind the door. Derek just smiled a small strange smile as he collected his towel and clothes.

Downstairs was chaotic to say the least. Nora was trying to get the whole place cleaned up, help George cook at the same time, and extricate Marti from under the dining table. When Casey came down, her mother heaved a sigh of relief.

Casey took over trying to coax Marti out from under the dining table before offering to clean the living room. Meanwhile, Edwin and Lizzie were watching all the resultant chaos interestedly, and of course, taking notes.

Derek came down and saw Casey dusting the room while George and Nora frantically worked in the kitchen, and went to sit down on his armchair.

"Maybe we should tell Lizzie and Edwin now," Casey said as she came near Derek while cleaning.

"Hey Ed, come here," Derek yelled out.

"Lizzie, could you please come to the living room for a moment?"Casey called out, much more politely than Derek—which had him rolling his eyes.

Both of them came running into the room and threw themselves onto the couch, looking expectantly at their respective siblings.

"Well, you both know that cousin Vicki is coming, right?" They both nodded.

"Well, she thinks that Derek and I are dating." The younger teens both promptly choked upon hearing this, and started laughing until a glare from Casey silenced them.

"The point is that we will let her think that. And if she asks, you will say that we are a couple." Casey struggled visibly before adding, "Who happen to like each other very much. _Understand_?" The looks on her and Derek's faces were worth capturing—both an unhealthy gray, like they wanted to throw up at the thought of even being together.

"Okay. But what do we get in return?" Edwin asked bluntly. Many times he had been dragged into his siblings' problems, and this time, he was going to make sure he got something in return to make it worth the trouble.

"Yeah. What do _we_ get?" Lizzie repeated with a wary look.

"Uh— I will do all of Lizzie's chores for a week and Derek will do all of Edwin's," Casey bargained brightly.

"We agree," Lizzie and Edwin said immediately with big smiles.

"But I don't. I do not agree to do Edwin' chores, Casey," Derek said, looking at Casey pointedly. He seemed to be saying, _'this all your idea so I am not going to suffer the consequences of executing it.'_

"Fine. I'll do Edwin's chores too." Casey said in a resigned fashion.

"You can go now," Derek said to Edwin and Lizzie.

Both the younger ones ran away, but not before giving Casey and Derek a weird look.

After they were out of earshot, Edwin whispered to Lizzie, "I think something is going on. We are going to have to observe them more closely. I have a feeling this is going to be an interesting week." His eyes gleamed at the thought of all the observational possibilities while Lizzie just nodded, thinking of all the fun to be got from spying on her siblings and their pretend relationship.

By eight the whole house was clean, Marti had been coaxed out from under the dining table and after a few minor mishaps, George had been able to make breakfast. The whole family sat in the living room, an uncomfortable silence in the air with Derek and Casey on tenterhooks.

The doorbell rang and Casey jumped up to open it. Two women and a man stood at the door.

"Derek. _Casey_." the younger female said condescendingly adding Casey's name as an afterthought.

"Vicki," Casey said through gritted teeth.

"Call me Victoria," the girl said as she came waltzing in.

Casey looked murderous, and Derek had to hold her back before she went and did something very un-Casey like.

Unknown to Cousin Vicki—or Victoria, as she preferred—battle lines were being drawn by one very annoyed Casey McDonald.

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_Edited as of 19th April, 2010_


	3. Fake Relationships and Real Ones?

_A/N: I am not exactly thrilled with this chapter...sigh...and I am sorry for it._

_Disclaimer: I do not own LwD or the Toronto Maple Leafs(I have no clue about Derek's favorite hockey team so I made them it)._

_And thanks to **Caryla **for beta-ing this chapter. It was a lot worse when I sent it to her. :)_

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Nora looked around the table apprehensively. This lunch had been the worst, most awkward lunch she had ever attended—far more awkward than the time when her ex-husband and George had been seated at the same table.

Derek and Casey were unusually quiet and kept sneaking glances at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking. Vicki kept looking at them thoughtfully while Edwin and Lizzie made no bones about their fascination with Derek and Casey and openly stared at them. Only Marti seemed like her normal self. Well, as normal as pretending like a cat could get.

Nora didn't think she could take anymore of this awkwardness. She would even have welcomed some old-fashioned sibling rivalry from Derek and Casey. She quickly amended that. Derek and Casey gave a whole new meaning to sibling rivalry; they made it a sibling war. But still, it made everything feel right. This silence was all so wrong. It felt as though she was trapped in some sort of warped universe.

She was going to split the family for dinner. She would send the kids out and then George and she would take the adults and Vicki out for dinner. She felt slightly better after making the decision and concentrated on her steak. George had actually done a decent job with the food.

Casey poked at her steak, lost in her own world. Vicki's words played over again and again in her head. Where in the world did Vicki get the idea that her and Derek made a good couple? Definitely not from her and definitely not from Derek. Cousin Vicki was deluded, Casey concluded, immediately feeling better after coming to that conclusion.

Derek steadily shoveled food into his mouth. So far things had been going smoothly and Casey's cousin actually believed that they were together and were attracted from the very beginning. He did not agree with the second part of it, honestly. There was no way he was attracted to Casey. Sure, she was good looking but she was just not his type. This was funny because Derek's type was just about any girl—just _not _Casey type girl.

Edwin and Lizzie looked from Casey to Derek, back and forth, trying to glean any bit of information they could from surprisingly impassive faces.

--

After lunch, Derek went straight up to his room and threw himself on the bed. He had his earphones and was nodding along to the music when the door opened and his headphones were gently taken off. He opened his eyes to see Nora standing over him.

"Derek, I need to ask a favor of you," she said sitting down on his swivel chair.

"What favor?" Derek asked sitting up.

"I need you take everyone out so that George and I can take Vicki and her parents out," Nora said tentatively.

"No way," Derek said flatly. Taking everyone to the mall was something he refused to do.

"Please, Derek. I need to keep Casey and Vicki apart. I know sooner or later I am going to witness a throw down." Nora pleaded.

"Fine. But what's in it for me?"

"A 'get out of chores free for a week' card?" Nora asked hopefully.

"I don't do them anyway, so it's not much of a bribe," Derek pointed out helpfully, smirking.

"Um…I get you tickets to the Toronto Maple Leafs game!" Nora said brightly, knowing she had winner.

"You got me there," Derek said ruefully. _Damn_. Nora was much too clever and she knew all his weaknesses.

"Fine. I will go." he said throwing himself back on the bed.

'Thank you, so very much, Derek." Nora stepped forward to hug him and Derek awkwardly accepted. Nora was nice, but not when she went all motherly on him. Okay, well, sometimes it was nice. But he was sixteen, for goodness sakes, and he couldn't be accepting hugs from his stepmother.

He made the exception this one time though because she looked so harried and tired and he kind of felt bad that in someway he was a contributor to the tension, just by being a part of Casey's plan.

--

At any other time everyone would have protested about going to the mall but because of the present situation everyone was eager to get as far as possible from Vicki. Casey especially. Even though she was going to the mall with all her siblings and Derek, she was happy about it. Well, she was as happy as she could get about going with Derek.

There wasn't much to choose between Derek and Vicki, but Casey would have picked Derek over Vicki any day. Which, coming from Casey, gave a very fair estimate of how much she disliked Vicki. I mean, considering that she would pick Derek—the person who constantly annoyed her, pulled a million pranks on her, and in general made her teenage life miserable—over her.

Edwin and Lizzie sat in the backseat with Casey while Marti sat up front with Derek. There was constant chatter on the way to the mall, but all of it came from Edwin, Lizzie, and Marti. Casey did not even once criticize Derek's rash driving, and Derek had nothing obnoxious to say.

Casey stared out of the window. This felt really weird. She had never been out with Derek without George and Nora. Derek stole a few glances at a pensive Casey from time to time in the rear view mirror. He had to admit; when she was quiet she actually looked pretty. Well, she always looked pretty, another thing he wouldn't let her know, but during moments of solitude the prettiness always seemed intensified.

He suddenly realized that he had been debating Casey's prettiness and that made him want to say something rude to get her all riled up. But the saddest thing was that he was unable to think of anything rude to say.

For the first time in his young life Derek Venturi had nothing rude at all to say to Casey. A fact he noted with great disgust.

He dropped them off in front of the mall while he went hunting for parking space. He told them he'd meet them at the food court. All his Casey-centric thinking had given him an appetite which only be satisfied by the downing of some heavy-duty junk food.

He got out of the car and locked it before making his way to the mall. On the way, he passed a few pretty girls and shot them a dazzling smile. It automatically happened—whenever he saw a pretty girl, he smiled at her. His brain was just wired that way.

He entered the mall and saw that Edwin and Lizzie were browsing through a bookstore while Casey was trying to unsuccessfully drag Marti away from the charms of an over-size teddy bear. He wondered whether he should step in to help, but was distracted by a pretty girl at the candy counter. So instead, he made a beeline to her, and was found there later by an indignant Casey carrying Marti on her hip. He reluctantly abandoned his pursuit of the blond beauty—but not before giving her a cheery wink and getting her number.

Casey glared at Derek. It was so like him to go off gallivanting and leaving her to manage everything. She fumed silently, wondering why she had thought she would pick him over Vicki. It was like choosing between the devil and the deep blue sea. But the thing with Derek was that, out of the blue; he would do these really sweet things for her despite protesting left, right, and center that he did it for himself. Like when he had agreed to help her out with this entire evil cousin business. Sometime she just didn't know what to think of him.

Derek noticed Casey stewing and prudently went and fished Edwin and Lizzie out of the bookstore. He really did not feel up to a shouting match with her.

Marti loudly announced that she was hungry, so they all made their way to the food court. It was funny in a way. They looked like a family with Derek shepherding Edwin and Lizzie and Casey trying to handle Marti, and more than one person gave them a second look as they made their way by. Casey and Derek did make a very attractive couple, though if they had known that was what people were thinking they would have immediately increased the distance between them.

They all bought whatever they wanted before sitting down at a table. Casey was just laughing at something that Edwin had said about Derek's lack of hygiene and Derek was swatting him on his head when Marti piped up.

"Look, Sam and Emily," she said, pointing them out.

Casey and Derek immediately looked up to see their respective best friends walking into the food court holding hands, in a way that could only be characterized as romantic. Casey and Derek looked at each other, stunned. It looked like they were not the only ones with a secret relationship. Sam and Emily were apparently having one too. The only difference was while Casey and Derek's was pretend, Sam and Emily's seemed frighteningly real.

Why were their best friends hiding it from them, why wouldn't they tell them? Those were just few of the questions running through Casey and Derek's minds as they looked at each other, trying but failing to process this whole new development.

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_Edited as of April 19th, 2010._


	4. Underneath the Surface?

Casey poked Derek's arm until he turned to her in annoyance.

"What?" Derek asked, rubbing his arm and glaring at her.

"Did you see that?" Casey asked in a hushed voice and bringing her chair closer to him.

"I _did_ see that and I _was_ seeing it until you so rudely interrupted me," Derek said pointedly.

"But Derek, its _Sam_ and _Emily_," Casey whispered, so close to his ear that her breath was tickling Derek's ear.

"I know, Casey. I have known them for years and can recognize them quite well." Derek retorted, taking his chair a little distance away from her. The proximity and the hot air being blown on his ears were making him uncomfortable. And not necessarily in a a bad way. But that was what the problem was, the fact that Casey's breath in his ears made him feel all tingly. And he wasn't sure if he wanted to feel tingly because of Casey.

Casey, however, was oblivious to his moving away. Instead, she gave him an exasperated look.

"I didn't mean it like that. What I meant was that they are going out and they didn't tell us. We are their best friends." she said as she picked at a fry on her plate and nibbled on it thoughtfully.

"Might be they have their reasons and will tell us when they are ready," Derek said as he took a big bite out of his burger.

Casey stared at Derek. Of all the times he chose now to be philosophical? Though he did make a pretty good point. A very good point---a point she _should_ have been the one to make. She wondered briefly if all the time she'd been spending with Derek lately had rubbed off on her, disrupting the way she thought.

Derek looked at Casey, who was now close to nibbling at her fingers.

"You aren't losing your intellect, Casey. Credit me with some brains once in a while, alright?" Derek rolled his eyes at her shocked expression.

Casey felt guilty and sent him a small smile before concentrating on her sandwich. Edwin and Lizzie noticed this and grinned. Their stepsiblings had just exhibited a deeper understanding of each other. At least, Derek had. And maybe Casey would soon do so to.

Marti, at this point, decided that things were much to quiet and maybe she needed to inject some pep into this gathering. She began throwing her fries at Edwin and Lizzie who retaliated and the three of them had to be separated. Derek took Lizzie and Edwin, and Casey ended up with Marti.

Casey was exhausted. Though there was no Vicki to trouble her, keeping Marti in check was an exhausting job—especially as Marti was a very active six years old with an equally active imagination to match. Derek noticed Casey's exhaustion and he simply picked up Marti while saying that he would be back and that they were free to do whatever they wanted until then.

As Casey watched Derek's retreating back, she smiled. Under Derek's swagger, if you dug deep (really deep,) there existed a soft heart. However, he would sooner gouge his eyes out than admit that. Cool hockey jocks weren't suppose to nurse soft spots for little sisters or help annoying stepsisters one-up their cousins.

Casey took Edwin and Lizzie around, and as they were coming out of a music store, Casey saw Sam and Emily face to face. They were holding hands but immediately dropped them and stared at her—clearly uncomfortable at this unexpected meeting.

"Hey Sam. Emily." Casey waved.

"Hey Casey," both of them replied awkwardly.

"He was just holding my hand cause…" Emily began as brightly as she could.

"It was cold," Sam jumped in.

"Yeah, it was cold," Emily said, nodding her head with conviction.

"It's okay, guys. You can tell me if you are going out. It's not like I am going to freak out or anything." Casey said, getting straight to the point. She was met with silence, and Casey began to wonder if she should have been more subtle.

After a while, Emily spoke up. "The reason I did not want to tell you is because of your history with Sam. It's not that I think you still like him, I just thought you might find it awkward if your ex-boyfriend and friend were dating. We were going to slowly tell you, to get you used to the idea."

"It's okay Em; I am completely fine with it. And I might find it slightly awkward, but it will pass after a while. I just hope the two of you are happy." Casey said, smiling.

"Thanks, Casey. It mean a lot to me to hear you say that." Emily hugged Casey.

'Yeah, thanks Casey." Sam also hugged her before tossing a wave in her direction as the couple walked away. Casey felt happy because now she knew the truth about Sam and Emily. She had never thought that Sam and Emily would be a couple, but after seeing them together she was forced to conclude that they would probably be good for each other.

The three of them went back to the food court to find Derek waiting there with Marti in his arms, fast asleep. Casey smiled; she had never seen Derek like this before. He looked so cute sitting holding onto a sleeping child. Her smile at once faded when she saw a girl come in front of him and coo over him. She may have found him cute, but there were also ten other girls (or more) who also did, and in front of them, she paled in significance.

Derek saw Casey coming and was about to stand up when a girl came in front of him. For once he decided to go against the grain and avoid her. He sidestepped her and walked over to Casey. Casey smiled when she saw him avoid the girl and walk their way. When he saw Casey smile, a smile began on his face too. He didn't know _why_ he smiled, but that didn't seem to matter nearly as much as the smile on Casey's face did.

They made their way to the car, and Casey sat up front with Marti in her lap. The car ride was silent—the three younger children were all asleep. She stole occasional glances at Derek, wondering if she would ever see this softer and nicer side of him again. He caught her looking, and she tuned away blushing. She carefully kept her eyes on the window and not on Derek for the rest of the ride.

Derek caught Casey looking at him and smirked. He was going to admit this to himself only this once. If there were no Casey Mc Donald in his life, he seriously doubted whether it would as fun as it was. Sure, he enjoyed pranking her, but he also enjoyed having these rare moments where for once they let it slip that they cared about each other.

They reached home to find that the adults and Vicki were already back. Casey handed over Marti before saying she was going to bed. Derek followed her up the stairs, with Vicki close behind him. Casey was going to her room and Derek was going to his when she stopped them.

"So how was it?" Casey's cousin asked suggestively, waggling her eyebrows.

"How was what?" Derek asked, bemused.

"Your _date_, silly. You went to the mall together without the rents. Don't tell me nothing happened." Vicki remarked pointedly.

Casey blushed while Derek cleared his throat. How were you supposed to fabricate details of a non-existent date?

Luckily fro them Vicki interpreted their silence as a good thing and smiled at them before saying that they really were adorable. Casey and Derek smiled at her, glad to escape when she stopped them once again.

"Aren't you going to kiss each other good night?" Vicki asked innocently. Casey and Derek stood still. They had to kiss each other now? Was nothing sacred to this woman? Casey would have willingly strangled Vicki but she moved towards Derek instead.

Derek mentally hit his head on the wall and moved towards Casey. He was going to kiss her. Casey McDonald, of all people. He leaned down and Casey came forward. Their lips met softly, merely brushing against each other first. They tentatively moved forward and the kiss deepened. But the moment was quickly broken by the sound of their parents' voices and Derek and Casey jumped apart as if they were burnt.

They looked at each other awkwardly not knowing what to say before quickly ducking into the safety of their rooms. That night as Casey fell asleep there was only one thing on her mind—the feeling of Derek's lips brushing against hers.

As Derek fell asleep, it was the thought of Casey's breathe blowing in his ear, and the feel of her soft vanilla flavored lips against his. Something had happened during that one moment where their lips had met for a fleeting moment, although neither understood it yet.

_

* * *

Edited as of April 19th, 2010._


	5. Changing Equations?

_Zillion apologies for the wait. Thanks to **Cherrynuts** for giving me an idea which helped me write. Enjoy._

_By the way belated (or not) Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and to those who don't celebrate just have a happy day! :)  
_

_Disclaimer: Do not own LwD._

* * *

Casey drew the blanket up to her chin and gazed at the ceiling, willing it to explain everything that was happening lately. Unfortunately, the ceiling remained mute. A few days ago, she never have believed that Derek—of all people—would be her boyfriend, or that she would have kissed him. _Fake boyfriend_, she reminded herself with a small twinge of… _something_. Regret, perhaps? Casey brushed that thought off immediately. And that kiss was just a prop to convince Vicki. _Wasn't_ it?

She turned over to her side and gazed into space. Everything suddenly seemed so complicated. After that kiss, she knew she was never going to think of Derek as an ordinary, annoying stepbrother ever again. Well, he would still be annoying but just not as a sibling. Somehow, she knew that she had crossed some invisible line and there was no going back.

With a huge sigh she lay on her back once more. She couldn't even confess all of this to someone. Ordinarily, Emily would have been the recipient of a frenzied phone call and an hour-long (or maybe two) phone conversation, but then again this did not seem like something that she could tell Emily. What could she say? "_Oh, hey Emily. Do you know that I am pretend-dating Derek and we just shared a kiss?_" Of course Emily would only have had an aneurysm or an embolism—or maybe both.

A huge sigh escaped her lips. Was Derek staying awake and pondering stuff too? _Probably not,_ she thought bitterly, resolutely closing her eyes, determined to fall asleep. _I will not lose sleep over my stepbrother, even if he is cute and a surprisingly good kisser_. Who was she kidding? Definitely not herself. She resigned herself to staying awake and staring at an unresponsive ceiling.

But, unknown to Casey, said stepbrother was up too. He was wide-awake and staring at the mute unresponsive ceiling for answers or guidance or just because sleep seemed so far away.

Derek threw off the covers and glared at the ceiling. Until a few days ago he was just another happy guy who was living the life—the perfect high school life—and then he turned into his very own stepsister's boyfriend. Pretend boy friend, he was quick to remind himself. That was all fine. It was like some sort of game. And then that kiss had to happen. That had just turned everything upside down. All these carefully constructed walls of dislike had been crumbled with one little kiss. One incredible little kiss with his incredibly annoying and incredibly attractive stepsister. How did all of this happen? Most of all how did Derek Venturi, the _King_ of _Uncomplicated_, end up with all these complications?

_Casey_. It was all because of Casey. He made the decision to help Casey and now he seemed in some sort of quagmire. So she was technically to blame for getting him into it. Because he could have said _no_, but his idiotic conscience had to step in and make him be soft and accept. And now he was saddled with issues he did not want to think about, but were the kind that demanded they be thought about. So he had to blame someone. And, as of now, it felt nice to blame it all on her. It allowed him to vent all he wanted without thinking that this was partly his fault.

After a few minutes of said venting, he decided that maybe he should stop blaming Casey. Everything had been going on fine until Vicki—yes, stupid cousin Vicki—had asked them to kiss. Until that moment, everything had been fine. But that kiss, it was creating havoc in his head. Cousin Vicki was responsible for them kissing, so she indirectly caused all this havoc, Derek concluded with grim satisfaction.

He rolled over and stared at the glowing arms of the clock. It was only one thirty, and no doubt it was going to be a long sleepless night filled with thoughts of Casey and her vanilla flavored lips. Derek groaned and shut his eyes tightly. He wondered whether Casey was awake. Knowing her, she was probably awake and obsessing.

It gave him satisfaction to know that he wasn't the only one awake and sleep deprived. Rightfully, it should have been stupid Vicki who was awake and worried about all this mischief that she was causing. Something faintly clicked in his head, but he was much too caught up with his denials to give it more than a passing thought. It was a first for Derek to even be thinking as deeply as he had been.

Finally, Derek fell asleep after counting about an infinite number of sheep. Casey fell asleep simply because there was nothing else to do and staying awake would mean obsessing over Derek and the kiss. And she _definitely_ did not want to do that.

The sun dawned bright and early upon two bleary eyed teenagers. Casey threw aside her covers and staggered out of bed yawning and rubbing her eyes. She had only managed four hours of sleep, and she wasn't feeling even remotely chirpy. She made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth and have a hot bath to reinvigorate herself.

Derek fell off the bed as he tried to swat his alarm clock off. He picked himself off the floor and groaned. He was sure he was going to fall asleep in his bowl of cereal. He made his way to the bathroom intent on taking a cold shower to shock the bejeezus out of him.

As Casey walked to the bathroom she rammed into a chest. Full of foreboding she looked up and looked deep into the bloodshot eyes of Derek Venturi. She wanted to open her mouth and say something, but no words came out. Instead, she opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish. She had wanted to avoid Derek, so she had woken up earlier so that she could bolt into the bathroom and then bolt downstairs, therefore effectively avoiding meeting him. Clearly her plan had backfired brilliantly upon her.

Derek felt something soft bump into him, and he looked down into the eyes and the pink lips of a very sleepy Casey McDonald. He swore inwardly. He had just gotten up, he was suffering from a severe lack of sleep, and he just had to bump into Casey—the very person he wanted to avoid. Was the universe plotting against him? He had woken up early in order to get to the bathroom before she did. But she beat him too it. Probably, with the same intention of avoidance.

Awkward.

"_Ummm... _" Casey said, looking at her toes.

"_Uh..._" Derek looked over Casey's head.

Both of them looked at each other, their eyes connecting for a single moment before they fled to the safety of their respective rooms. They weren't ready to face each other yet. That kiss had changed things _too soon_ and _too fast_, and Derek and Casey weren't sure they could handle this change just yet.

They had gone from being step siblings to… _what_?

They did not know it, but the equation had irrevocably changed.

* * *

_Edited as of April 19th, 2010._


	6. Derek Has Feelings For Casey?

_Here is the 7th chapter. I had figured out the time line but I forgot it( my wonderful memory failed me once again) but I can tell you that they have vacation from school now and it's winter. Hope you like it. As always thanks to **Caryla** for being such a wonderful beta. :)_

_Disclaimer: If I did own LwD I would not be writing stories here would I?_

* * *

Casey and Derek eventually made it downstairs by dint of sheer luck and some clever avoidance techniques. Vicki was already at the table eating breakfast and smiling as if it were a fine sunny day (which it was, at least for the winter that they were having). However, Derek and Casey were not feeling the happiness in the air because of a few minor snags such as an unintended kiss, lack of sleep, and incomprehensible feelings—you know, _the usual_. They threw Vicki murderous glances simultaneously, noticed each other and then muttered into their respective cereal bowls.

Nora came to the table to set down some toast and noticed the hostility in the air. It was quite impossible not to, seeing as Vicki was smiling serenely and Derek and Casey were glowering at her. For the hundredth time in the past few days Nora sighed. All she had wanted this vacation was a few days of peace and quiet. Apparently peace and quiet were a rare commodity as far as teenagers were concerned. She had the quiet but it was the kind where you could cut the tension in the air with a knife. Maybe after all of this she would take herself off to a spa. She needed the relaxation desperately.

Derek shoveled his cereal into his mouth as quickly as he could. He wanted to get out of the house, away from Casey and most definitely Vicki. He wondered how much trouble he would be in for if he hit Casey's cousin on the head with a hammer.. He finished his cereal and gulped down his juice. He went to the kitchen and muttered to Nora that he was going out and would be back in time for lunch. A few minutes later Casey marched into the kitchen and said she was going out but not before offering to help her mother with the dishes.

Derek did not even bother driving; he just walked to Sam's house. The cold air rushed around him, pushing his hands deeper into his pockets and ruffling his hair. His cheeks became pink and his head cleared. He reached Sam's house and knocked on the door. Sam opened the door and looked bemused as Derek walked in (_barged in_) to the house and went straight up to his room. From the one glimpse Sam had caught of Derek's face, Sam knew that something big was bothering Derek. And that confused him because Derek was rarely bothered by anything at all—except a weeping Marti.

He sighed; a bothered Derek did not bode well for him. He slowly made way up to his room. He didn't want to go in, but a sense of brotherly and friendly duty forced him in. He opened the door to and went inside to be met with the sight of Derek furiously pacing up and down. He decided that the best thing to do was take himself out of the furious path that Derek was beating down on his carpet, his very favorite Superman carpet, he might add.

"_Girls_."

That was the one word that escaped from Derek's lips. But it was wonderfully evocative. He had managed to convey all his frustration, annoyance and confusion in that one tiny little word. Sam nodded his head in agreement. He might not know who exactly was bothering Derek, but even he knew that girls could be a pain.

"Because of her, I'm a _freaking_ mess. I was happy the way I was before. But now everything's changed. Do you know I spent last night thinking of her lips? _Her_ _lips_. Jesus. She is not supposed to be the girl whose lips I think about. I should not think she is pretty. I just cannot. She is…_Argghh_!" Derek said, venting his frustration.

Sam blinked; he had no clue whom Derek was talking about. But whoever this girl was, she seemed to be off limits for Derek and that was surprising in itself. No girl seemed off limits to Derek. A small seed of suspicion began to niggle in Sam's brain. Could it be? Was this the girl? Oh no, he _didn't_, he just _couldn't_. And Sam was going to let Derek know what exactly he thought of him.

"Is the girl…?"

"Casey."

"Emi-_what_? Did you just say _Casey_?" Sam said, feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of him.

"Yes I did." Derek said exasperatedly. Was Sam being intentionally dumb today? "Who did you think it was?" he asked, stopping in his tracks to look at Sam.

"I…I thought…you know…_maybe_…anyway it doesn't matter now. But isn't she…you know…your _stepsister_?" Sam said fumbling. What a fool he had been to think that it was Emily. Now that male code thing finally made sense. It was funny that he didn't see this coming though.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Derek snapped with a glare as he continued his pacing. Later he would find out who had Sam so worried. Now he had more pressing problems, such as feelings for his stepsister.

Inside Sam's head something clicked. Did Derek just mention that he had kissed Casey? His eyes grew wide as he pictured them kissing. He shuddered, that was a mental image he did not want.

"Derek, did you just mention that you kissed Casey?" Sam asked tentatively.

"Yes, I did. And it was all because of her stupid cousin Vicki. I mean, what is that girl's problem? Why does she have to go around demanding that people should kiss each other good night? Does she not have a life of her own?" Derek demanded as he threw himself onto a chair, finally tired of pacing.

Sam looked down at his carpet. Thankfully Derek hadn't beaten down a path on it. You could still see Superman's face. He had given up on trying understanding what Derek was saying. It seemed like one long convoluted saga better suited to a soap opera.

"Sam, have you heard what I've had to say?" Derek asked, looking exhausted and rubbing his eyes.

"No…Derek, honestly… I haven't. It was slightly hard to understand what you were saying." Sam said contritely. Sighing, Derek drew the chair closer to the bed and began telling Sam how it all started with one little phone call from a girl named Vicki.

By the time he was done, Sam looked stunned. This _was_ a long and convoluted saga and it _was_ suited to a soap opera.

"So, what you're saying is that you like Casey?" Sam asked slowly.

"I think I do," Derek agreed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"And as of now, you and Casey are pretending to date?"

"Yes we are."

"And you kissed her?"

"Yes, I did. I just told you all of this." Derek smacked his forehead in exasperation.

"Sorry, man. It's taking some time to getting used to. I mean ever since you've known Casey, you've always hated her. And now you like her. It's a bit confusing." Sam said, nodding his head wisely.

"And what makes you think that this isn't hard for me?" Derek asked, snapping at Sam.

Sam stared at Derek. It wasn't unusual for Derek to snap at him, but from the conversation that they just had, Sam could tell that Derek was wrestling with some really confusing feelings. Sam felt a surge of pity for Derek. Not for all the money in the world would he want to be in Derek's place now. He thanked his stars that he had Emily. He patted Derek on the back awkwardly, not knowing how else to convey his sympathy.

Derek felt Sam's hand on his back and appreciated the gesture. He stood up to leave, it was almost lunch and the cereal had not been enough.

"Thanks, Sam," he said on his way out the door.

"Anytime, D." Sam smiled as he stood up.

Derek poked his head back through the doorway. "By the way, congratulations on your new couple-status with Emily," Derek said with a grin. The old Derek was back.

Sam blushed as he mumbled thanks and shifted his feet. Then a thought struck him.

"Derek, do your parents know about this?" Sam asked curiously. The look on Derek's face told him that the parents were blissfully unaware of this. Then another thought struck him. "Dude, what are they going to say when they find out?" he asked, a little horrified.

Derek's eyes widened. He had not thought of what would happen if they found out. He was going to be in deep trouble. He waved at Sam halfheartedly. He seemed to be in the mother of all messes and it was starting to get old.

Sam watched as Derek made his way out of the house with his shoulders slumped. He was so glad he wasn't in Derek's place.

Derek pulled his jacket tighter around him. Right now the parents blowing blood vessels were the least of all his problems. What mattered now was whether or not Casey reciprocated his feelings. He was dreading going back home and facing Casey. It was galling, it really was, he was going through all this hell and she seemed to be having no problems at all.

Life at this moment sucked very much indeed.

* * *

_Edited as of April 19th, 2010_


	7. Casey Has Feelings For Derek?

_I am so sorry for the delay, hope this makes up for the wait. Un beta-ed because my beta is busy and I just had to update seeing as I may not have access to Internet for the next few days( o'cruel fate). Hope you like it and forgive me for the grammatical mistakes( while writing I felt like I forgot all my grammar)._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Lwd._

* * *

After helping her mother wash the dishes and disposing of the garbage with some amount of violence, Casey made her way to Emily's house. She knocked on the door and stood glaring at the snow covered flowerbeds and when Emily opened the doors she was still glaring at them.

"Casey?" Emily tentatively asked as she opened the door to find her best friend glowering at the flower bed.

Casey whipped around to find Emily looking at her confused.

"Oh hey Em, can I come in?" she asked shuffling her feet.

"Of course Casey," Emily said looking slightly concerned. With an instruction to her little brother to finish his breakfast, Emily took Casey into the kitchen.

"Casey what's wrong?" Emily asked as she sat down across Casey at the kitchen counter.

Casey looked at Emily for a few moments and fiddled with the strands of her hair before bursting out, "Everything Em."

And with that statement Casey promptly burst into tears over the kitchen counter.

Emily stared at her for a moment or two before rushing to get the tissues; she kept aside a box for Casey especially. Casey bursting into tears was something which Emily was used too. At first she had been flustered but later on she learned to keep a box of tissues ready, everything would come tumbling out eventually.

She got the box and kept it in front of Casey, who mumbled watery thanks before pulling out a large bunch of tissues to mop her streaming face. Many sodden tissues later, Casey was finally ready to talk or so it seemed.

"Tell me what happened Casey," Emily said kindly as she picked up a banana and began to peel it.

"There is this boy Emily, who I absolutely positively hated at first and now I think I like him," Casey said dabbing at her eyes and disposing of the sodden tissue with a look of disgust.

Emily sighed. This did not sound good, further mention of the boy would cause Casey to weep some more. But she prepared herself for the oncoming deluge, Casey had been an extremely good friend to her and _still_ was and she was determined to be the best friend she could be even if it meant providing Casey with countless boxes of tissues.

"Who is the boy Casey?" Emily asked racking her brain as she tried to go over all the potential boys in her head.

Casey buried her head in her arms and mumbled, "It's Derek."

"I couldn't hear Casey, speak a little louder," Emily asked, her curiosity spiked.

Casey lifted up her head and took a deep breath. She bit her lip before saying somewhat shakily, "Emily, the guy is _Derek_."

"What?" the banana went flying out of Emily's hand and landed in the sink with a resounding squish. She stared at Casey in horror before wondering if she had heard right.

"Did you just say _Derek_?" she asked hoping she had heard wrong.

"Yes Emily. I said _Derek_." Casey said with a weary sigh. She had foreseen this reaction , now it remained to see what would happen, whether Emily would have an aneurysm or be able to take the news without hyperventilating. Personally she preferred hyperventilation because Emily would have to calm down at some point. The aneurysm on the other hand was slightly more fatal and Casey wanted her best friend to remain alive.

Emily took a few deep breaths, she reminded herself to breathe. She tried to hold the resulting question back but it came out anyways.

"Casey…isn't Derek…you _know_…your…ummm…_step brothe_r?" she finally managed to say it despite hesitating one too many times.

Casey buried her head in her arms once again as she moaned in agreement. Emily looked at Casey, feeling pity for the state she was in. No wonder Casey had been much more stressed than usual. She let her enjoy some peace and solitude, moving out of the kitchen to check on her little brother who had thankfully finished his breakfast and was now watching cartoons.

She came back and found Casey staring moodily at the fruit bowl. The fruit bowl reminded her of the banana that had taken flight and she went to the kitchen and took a look at its squished remains. She would have to clean that up later and she wasn't too happy about it.

She went to the refrigerator and took out a bar of chocolate for Casey. At times like this there was nothing like chocolate to gladden a girl's heart. She offered the bar to Casey, who looked at it askance. Casey did not eat chocolate bars; she preferred eating carrots or some other vegetable when she was down.

"It's okay Casey, for once it doesn't matter. Just eat the bar. The problem may not go away but you will definitely feel a hell of a lot better." Emily said as she sat down next to Casey, smiling at her. Casey smiled back at her and slowly ate the bar relishing the sweet taste of chocolate and caramel.

"So when did you find out that you liked Derek?" Emily asked, putting her arms up on the counter and turning her head to face Casey.

"After I kissed him."

"What? How… I mean when…ugh…_however_ did you get into a situation where you kissed him Casey? I thought you did not even like being in close proximity with him." Emily said as she tried to wrap her head around this and failing to do so she gave up. She looked to Casey expectantly, waiting for an explanation.

"It's all because of Cousin Vicki," Casey said heaving a big sigh and disposing of the candy wrapper. Eating the chocolate did feel good and she felt better than she had before.

"_Casey_, I realize you do not like Vicki very much but don't you think blaming your kiss on her is a little too far-fetched?" Emily asked carefully, now massaging her head. This was leading up to be very confusing.

Casey realized that maybe it was time to tell Emily the truth about how it all began with one phone call and one unthinking response from her. By the time she was done, Emily's eyes were big and her mouth had formed a big o. Clearly she was stunned by this very complicated way of falling for your step brother, of all people. Casey looked at Emily waiting for a response from her. And she did get one.

"Well I am glad you did not pick Sam." Emily said without preamble.

Casey stared at her, she had just told her this whole tale of how it all happened and all Emily had to say was _this_?

"_Wha_t? It would have been disastrous if you had picked Sam. But it kind of does make sense you know, you both finally kissing. Both of you are much too interested in each other's love lives so I think you'll must have liked each other all along way underneath all the pranks and hate." Emily said, grinning knowingly.

Casey once again looked at Emily nonplussed. Well she had wanted more of a reaction and she had got it. She had never realized that she and Derek were so involved in each other's lives. Come to think about, Derek was a big part of her life whether she liked it or not. And now that she discovered she liked him, he was going to play and even bigger part. She wondered bitterly whether Derek even liked her back, he had avoided her after the kiss and today morning he had had breakfast as fast as he could and left.

"Oh _Emily_, what am I going to do? I am sure he doesn't like me back and now I am going to spend the rest of my life obsessing over the very guy who I loved to hate." And with this statement Casey buried her head in her arms and gave herself away to a storm of tears, of the heartbreaking kind.

Emily knew that at this point, that words were a poor substitute for comfort so she rubbed Casey's back comfortingly as she gave her a hug and let Casey sob all over her favorite sweater. The mark of true friendship was letting your friend sob her heart out over your favorite piece of clothing without even a murmur of protest.

Little Dimi came into the kitchen saw, the pile of sodden tissues, a sobbing Casey and a squished banana in the sink and decided that the kitchen was a very strange place to be and he would probably be better off watching cartoons in the living room. He contemplated asking Casey whether Marti was free this evening but decided that this would earn him a reprimand from his sister so he left the kitchen armed with all the supplies a little boy would need to keep himself occupied while watching cartoons, namely milk and cookies.

After a while Casey lifted her head from Emily's shoulder and mopped at her face. Her eyes were puffy and red and so was her nose. She felt like an utter mess and probably looked it. And now it was time to go back home for lunch.

"Thanks Emily, for all the comfort," Casey said sniffling as she got up and made her way to the door.

"Anytime Casey," Emily said smiling, getting up too and following her to the door.

Casey stepped out of Emily house and made her way to her house. When she walked into the porch, the very person she had spent the last two hours crying over was standing there looking thoroughly miserable. Derek, her _step brother_.

Derek had thought furiously for the last half an hour and honestly speaking it wasn't helping him much and it was only making him feel more and more miserable by the second. So he gave up on it, thinking that for now, for the sake of the peace of his mind he would not think about it at all. And just as he made that decision, he saw her walking and as she came up close, to put it bluntly she looked miserable.

They both stood under the porch, silently stewing in their misery and each wondering if the other was thinking about them at all, until Derek could take it no more.

For the second time in a few days, Derek Venturi kissed Casey McDonald, only this time it was of his own volition. He held her close to him unmindful of the fact that they were in the full view of the public. She tasted of chocolate and vanilla and the flavors danced on his tongue. It was like one of those extremely cliché movie scenes, he never wanted to let her go and he never wanted this moment in time to pass.

Casey was surprised nevertheless she clung to him, enjoying the feel of his lips against her, wanting to never let him go. It felt like she was finally living, everything in her life paled in significance in comparison to this one moment. All the tears and the misery of the past few hours melted away with this one little kiss.

Pent up emotions of frustration and misery and maybe even a bit of longing fuelled that one little kiss. Everything over the past few days had finally led up to this and seemed liked Derek and Casey were never going to let each other go until, the front door _creaked_…

* * *

_Edited as of April 19th, 2010._


	8. Blessed Peace?

_I know I took a long time to update but exams got in the way so I couldn't. Anyways my exams are over now and you have a new chapter. I hope you like it. :)_

_This chapter is dedicated to everyone who ever reviewed. If you'll hadn't I probably wouldn't have crossed a 100 reviews. I thank all you lovely people for reviewing. I loves all of you all. I really does. :)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own LwD and I dont know if Harry and Fiona are Vicki's parents names. I just read them somehwere and appropriated them I think. If they belong to anyone do let me know, I'll credit them . :)_

* * *

Nora went to open the door but a screech from the direction of the stairs stopped her in her tracks. She turned around dreading what she was going to see. What she saw was Marti, with her head through the banisters. _Again_.

-

Oxygen deprivation. It was one thing that was now being felt by Casey and Derek and it necessitated breaking apart from a kiss which would have continued for eternity. They both stared at each other shyly, taking in deep measured breaths. But Casey leant forward and placed a small kiss on his cheek. And now it looked as if Derek, _Derek Venturi _of all people was blushing or turning a violent shade of red. He would go with the violent shade of red thank you very much; it would be manlier and less embarrassing.

The door was opened by Vicki who caught sight of the kiss and smirked. Both of them sent up a silent prayer of thanks, glad that it hadn't been Nora who had opened the door. To say that blood vessels wouldn't have been burst wouldn't have been an understatement.

Meanwhile Nora managed to extricate Marti's head. She looked up to see her two eldest children walking in, looking happy and pink. Well, at least someone seemed to be happy. She lifted up Marti and gave her a small lecture on the inadvisability of poking one's head through banisters. She was met with a pout and just like many other before her she crumbled like a cookie in the wake of it. Offering her youngest a kiss on her cheek, she set her down next to Casey, who was sitting next to…_Derek_?

She stopped in her tracks, whatever happened to _'I stay on this side you stay on yours'_? Did it all just melt away like snow in spring? She sighed and shook her head. Something was going on and as always she would be the last to know. Ah well, whatever it was she was going to be prepared for it.

Derek stared at his plate, while his hand sought out Casey's under the table. Casey found it and smiled into her empty plate.

Holding hands under the table with Derek, somehow she had never imagined this scenario ever happening. But at the same time it felt nice. She knew there were many questions to be answered and to be dealt with but for now they could wait. Everybody was entitled to a little happiness, weren't they? The calm before the storm.

Derek felt Casey's warm hand grip his hand and for a moment he felt like letting out a small sigh of happiness. Sure the kissing was nice but even hand holding under the table was nice. It gave a feeling of excitement that couldn't not be matched even by the spats he and Casey had had over the table in the past.

Edwin nudged Lizzie, just from observing Casey and Derek he could tell, that something had happened. Something huge had happened. They looked so happy and that to with each other. He tried to think of what it was that would make them so happy? His mind went over a list of possibilities. And then it stopped at one particular possibility.

His eyes widened, and he blinked rapidly. _No_…could it _really _be? Oh my. Things had _just_ gotten _a whole lot_ more interesting. And a lot more complicated. If it was what he thought it was, he wanted to see what his parents would say. Derek and Casey never ceased to provide drama, only this time the drama would have a lot of implications to be dealt with. And it could go either way.

For once he genuinely felt for his siblings. But maybe his parents wouldn't take it too badly. Maybe there would be hope. _Maybe_.

Lizzie did look at Derek and Casey after Edwin's nudge but she was distracted at once by something Vicki said, although she did catch enough of a glimpse to know that something _big _had happened. Anyways there would be enough time after lunch to find out.

Vicki speared a piece of lettuce on her fork before giving Derek and Casey a look out of the corner of her eye. They looked smitten, yes that was the right word, they looked _smitten_ with each other. When she had first come the chemistry had been evident but they seemed hesitant in their interactions, like they hadn't wanted to act like a couple.

And now they looked like a couple, happy and probably holding hands under the table. The first flush of love was always magical but with these two it seemed like it would always be. They had always been each other's biggest interests despite vehemently protesting against it.

Looking at them made her want whatever they seemed to have, this weird relationship that made sense to no one else but them, they would fight and hate and now in this case like each other all they wanted but they would always be there for each other, when one needed the other. No matter _what_.

It was a game of, '_don't worry I'll catch you if you fall'_.

And it was strangely sweeter than anything else she had ever seen.

Nora sat down at the table, relishing the peace pervading around it. She nervously waited for expectant fights and barbed remarks but none came and for once Nora too decided that maybe she really could enjoy her lunch this time and not worry about the absence of a fight. And she did.

She did wonder whether the peace would last until George and Harry and Fiona and came home. She sent up a prayer asking for it.

Lunch passed smoothly and the kids settled themselves on the couch, while Nora went up too take some much needed rest. Vicki followed her later wanting to read a book in the privacy of the bedroom. Marti settled herself on armchair while Lizzie and Edwin sprawled on the floor, watching the Discovery channel.

Derek sat down on the couch a little distance away from Casey feeling awkward. He did not know what to do now. Did he go closer, put an arm around her, and give her a small almost imperceptible kiss? He did not know what to do at all.

Luckily for him Casey did, she lay down with her head on his lap reading a book, while watched the TV along with Lizzie and Edwin. If they noticed anything of what was happening at all, they did not say a thing.

For the first time in day's peace hung over the household like a warm blanket and when George returned later he found all his children sleeping in various positions. Marti curled up on the arm chair, Edwin and Lizzie sprawled out on the rug and Derek asleep sitting up and the most strangest of all, Casey asleep with her head on Derek's lap.

But for once George had nothing to say except enjoy the blessed silence that enveloped the whole house.

* * *

_Edited as of April 19th, 2010._


	9. Doing Homework?

_Everyone, I am ever so sorry for the wait. And I apologise like a million times for it. The problem was that with the last chapter I wrote myself into a corner and it was really difficult extricating myself out of it. I rewrote this around ten times before finally settling with this chapter because I was not at all happy with my previous attempts. Once again I'm sorry. Anyways on with the chapter now._

_Un-beta'd ._

_Disclaimer: Don't own LwD._

* * *

For the first time in his life, Edwin was doing something nice. Well not exactly the first, but it was one of those few rare times, when he was not extorting money or being bullied into doing it.

Edwin had taken upon the role of unofficial lookout for Derek and Casey. If they were…ahem…_together_, he would alert them or let them know loudly of his presence and the other person's presence.

But it was a tiresome and thankless job, it involved being on their tail constantly. And it to make it look like he wasn't looking out for them he had to make is look like he was spying, so that also meant carrying his very heavy research binder around. Being a thirteen year old middle sibling – who was trying to look out for his elder siblings – at this very moment was not a very fulfilling occupation.

He allowed himself this moment of self-pity before getting ready to lookout again. _O-oh_, Nora was coming this way. He threw his binder down with force, eliciting a gasp from Nora as well as Derek and Casey who were sitting on the couch and tracing patterns on each other's skins. They jumped apart too and looked everywhere except each other.

Nora came into the living room to see Edwin picking up his binder with a disgruntled face and went away muttering something. Vicki and her parents had finally left. To say there was an euphoric outpouring of joy would not have been wrong. Nora had to admit that she herself had been pretty pleased. Having relatives over when you had five (drama loving _and_ creating) kids of your own was quite exhausting. Caught up with such happy thoughts she did not think much of Edwin's disgruntlement or the fact that Casey and Derek had jumped ten feet apart as soon as she had come in and were currently looking as if each other did not exist.

Edwin went up and threw himself into the games closet where he promptly subsided into dark mutterings. Why did he have to do this, protect his siblings from a probable explosion of parental dressing downs? He wanted to rid himself of this onerous task but a sense of duty and also a soft spot for romance would allow him to do so. After his dark mutterings subsided, finally decided he needed to tell someone about his weakness for romance and his inability to escape from an onerous sense of duty. And that someone would be Lizzie, simply because she was his partner in crime, his amigo till death. Well that was a little too dramatic but yeah; she was his go-to-gal for problems.

--

Lizzie was reading a book when she looked up to see the door of her room open and Edwin peek around it. Noticing her he came in and sat down on her bed and looked at her with a fixed stare.

"Liz, I need to tell you something," he said seriously.

"Okay…_tell me._" She nodded her head encouragingly.

Edwin took a deep breath and exhaled, "You cannot reveal this to anyone Liz, it's really big."

Liz was going to roll her eyes; Edwin sometime had a misplaced flair for the dramatic. But a look at Edwin's face - drawn and serious - told her that maybe for once Edwin wasn't exaggerating the situation. She was now eager to know this secret that had her usually cheerful brother all serious.

"_DerekandCaseyaretogther."_

There he had said it, and it felt like a great load had been lifted off them. Though from the look of pure confusion on Lizzie's face it was clear that she hadn't caught onto to his garbled message. Edwin sighed and prepared to enunciate his message more clearly this time.

"_Derek_ and _Casey_ are _together_."

Lizzie stared at him jaw hanging open, eyes protruding, looking so like a fish but he wouldn't let her know that out of politeness and love for her.

"Edwin, you said this is _serious_. If this is your idea of a joke then let me tell you it's not at all funny. Not even a bit." Lizzie glared at him, pursing her lips and folding her arms across her chest and in general looking very annoyed.

Edwin sighed once again and prepared himself to outline what he had doing for the past one week.

"I swear I'm not kidding Liz, just hear me out."

"Fine, I'm listening Ed, but you had better not be feeding me a pack of lies, otherwise I swear I'll make sure you break a few bones." Lizzie said grimly and looking as if she would carry out her threat too. Edwin visibly gulped before beginning his tale. But this was no joke; he just had to convince Liz that he was not spouting a load of nonsense.

So he sat and told her the whole tale, right from the time at that dinner when he had realized to till now. And it took him over an hour because he detailed every little thing like how Casey was helping Derek with homework, how he did not make so much fun of her and how the incidence of pranks had reduced; how Derek let her watch TV and most importantly hold the remote.

And that last thing was the deciding factor which convinced Lizzie that maybe Derek and Casey had something going on because Derek never voluntarily gave the remote to anyone and most of all never to Casey.

"_Oh my god_…I think you are right Edwin," she said as she flopped back on her bed, hand covering her mouth. Edwin smiled, pleased that she was convinced and that none of his bones were breaking anytime soon. Now he only had to convince her to be the lookout along with him, because this burden was too much to shoulder alone.

He told her of what he had been doing and was met with an unexpected response that made him cringe sort of.

"Edwin, that is so sweet of you," Lizzie cooed clasping her hands together and sitting up, smiling a big smile. Lizzie was tomboyish but she was also a young teenage girl who sometimes liked filling her head with romantic notions. Not that she would let Casey know about that.

"_Meh_."

"Really Edwin, but you know what you shouldn't be doing this lookout thing. It's a tiresome job and though I don't mind helping you, what we should really do is go and speak to Derek and Casey and let them know that we know." Lizzie said earnestly.

Edwin frowned; he had to admit that Lizzie's suggestion was much better and also a lot less annoying to do.

"Fine let's go confront them. Let's do it right now, because they are doing _'homework'_." Edwin said using air quotes to emphasize the word _homework_, smirking as he got up. Lizzie smirked too as she followed Edwin's lead.

They knew what homework was code for. _Duh_.

Edwin knocked on Derek's door. He and Lizzie waited patiently for Derek to open the door.

"What?" Derek said tersely as he poked his tousled head outside the door, "Me and Casey are doing homework."

Edwin and Lizzie smirked once again as they looked at each other.

"And that's what we have to talk to you about, both of you'll doing _homework_."

And with that pronouncement Edwin and Lizzie marched into the room leaving a confused, befuddled and blushing Derek at the door.

* * *

_Edited as of April 19th, 2010._


	10. Growing Up?

_Hope everybody had a great new year. You may find this chapter a little weird but I needed it to set up the next which will probably be the last one. Anyways I hope you like it. And still un-beta'd which tells me I need to get my act together and contact my beta. -sigh-_

_Dont own LwD._

* * *

Derek sighed as he closed the door after his two siblings. Great, now half his family was in his room. His sanctuary the place he went to get away from everyone, not Casey though. All he needed now were Nora and George and Marti to complete the little get together that was going on now.

"See Casey, no one's going to believe _I_ of all people was doing homework," he said rolling his eyes at Casey as he settled himself on the computer chair. His bed was getting quite crowded what with Casey, Lizzie and Edwin on it. _Hmmm_…he needed to have a talk with Edwin. Sitting on his bed was simply not done.

"You never know, they might think you are becoming a better student," Casey said hopefully, ever the incurable optimist.

Lizzie began laughing and covered it up with a cough while Edwin outright snorted and began laughing. Derek himself grinned. The idea of him doing homework was pretty far-fetched and he had told Casey that. But when Casey looked at him with that smile and those eyes he had melted faster than a Popsicle in summer and had given in but not before half-heartedly protesting. He still had to hold on to some vestige of dignity, didn't he?

Casey had stuck to her word and made him do homework or at least attempted to. But it was hard to when Derek kept throwing small pieces of paper at her or sneaking in kisses. But she had to admit, doing homework or at least attempting to do homework with Derek was fun, especially when there were kisses involved.

"Seriously, Derek, how did you think that anyone would believe you both were actually doing homework? I mean Casey, everyone will believe, but _you_?" Edwin asked as he struggled to contain his laughter.

"Oh I know how he was _convinced,_" Lizzie said with a knowing smirk on her face. And Casey and Derek blushed. Well Derek tried not to go tomato red but failed admirably in the process.

Edwin too caught on and smirked and Derek groaned. Edwin was probably going to milk him for all he was worth or threaten to reveal that Casey kissing Derek could convince Derek of going along with anything. Even doing homework.

"So how long have both of you known?" Casey asked.

"Ever since a week ago when both of you left storming and then came in for lunch together. Both of you were sitting together and just looked so happy." Edwin said in a thoughtful voice.

Derek and Casey smiled at that memory.

"But we never told anyone so how did you know?" Casey asked her eyebrows scrunching as she tried to figure out how could Edwin possibly.

"I went over all the possibilities in my head and stuck with the one that seemed most logical. Besides my research binder is filled with notes about your interactions. It was not hard to arrive at that conclusion." Edwin said smirking.

Casey once again marveled at Edwin's intelligence as well as the hard work he put into whatever he was doing. Derek merely sighed; his little brother was going to be a social failure if he spent more time with a binder than anything else.

"Did you too guess at around that time Lizzie?" Derek asked Lizzie who had been sitting quietly next to Casey.

"I didn't guess. Edwin told me. By the way, you should know that he looked out for you'll. If it weren't for him, I'm sure you'd have been caught earlier because you were too busy making googly eyes at each other." Lizzie said determined to give Edwin his due.

Casey sucked in a deep breath and looked at Edwin who was staring protractedly at his hands. She went over to him and gave him a tight hug. This was by far the sweetest thing he had ever done.

Edwin went red and squirmed in Casey's embrace. Just because he had a soft spot for romantic couples did not mean he would allow himself to be subjected to hugs of the Casey kind. For goodness sakes, he was a teenage boy after all. After some amount of squirming Casey let go of him while Edwin muttered furiously how much he didn't like hugs.

Derek stared at his younger brother thoughtfully, touched that Edwin had actually been a lookout for them. He got up and hooked an arm around his neck and ruffled his hair. That was his way of showing affection and saying thank you. And one that Edwin clearly preferred because he did not squirm as much.

Edwin sat down next to Lizzie who smiled at him.

"Now that we got that out of the way, let's move onto other things," Lizzie said taking charge.

It was such a Casey like gesture that Derek couldn't help but be amused.

"What other things Lizard?" he asked

"Like how are you going to tell mom and George and then your friends? That kind of stuff." Lizzie said carefully, not wanting to freak them out but yet wanting to impress upon them the advantage of letting everyone know as soon as possible before they found out themselves and suffered from a heart attack in the process.

"Sam and Emily know but Mom and George…" with that Casey tailed off. She quailed at the thought of telling her parents.

"_Shit._" And that was all Derek said but it encompassed what they felt, very well. Silence pervaded the room as Casey and Derek fell into deep thought about what to do while Edwin and Lizzie try to think of the worst case scenario.

"We'll have to tell them," Casey said biting her lip.

"Obviously."

"But how will we tell them?"

"Upfront. Because there is no other way."

Casey gulped at this statement from Derek. Everything suddenly seemed so much more serious. But she was willing to go all the way; she was willing to give this thing with Derek a chance. And she wanted her mother to know that she was committed.

Edwin and Lizzie stared at Derek and Casey. It seemed as the two had suddenly grown up. They really were serious about this relationship about theirs. It was a little scary to watch but at the same time it filled them with admiration for what their siblings were about to do.

"Come on Spacey, we've got some parents to freak."

"Not if we go with _that_ attitude."

"Then what should we do?"

"Make a presentation."

"_Seriously_?"

"Seriously."

"And they call you the intelligent one."

"_Hey_…"

Edwin shook his head as he watched them both walk out of the room and continue to argue, things might be changing but Derek and Casey and their constant bickering; that would never change.

And that in itself was reassuring.

* * *

_Edited as of April 19th, 2010_


	11. Confrontation?

_Sorry I took so long but I have never written a confrontation between Dasey and the parents and I wanted to be able to do it properly. I hope this works out fine for you. Un-beta'd._

_Dont own LwD._

* * *

Derek peeked from between the banisters to see Nora and George sit down on the couch to enjoy some quality time. He motioned to Casey who was standing some distance away to come down with him.

They were going to tell them now, having taken a week to prepare themselves for it. They had thrown every question possible at each other because they wanted to be as prepared as possible. This wasn't some small event where they could simply wing it, this was something huge. Potentially _life changing _huge. And there wasn't space for any screw-ups of any kind.

Nora snuggled closer to George, enjoying the peace which had fallen around the house ever since Cousin Vicki had left. She wanted to enjoy every moment of it before it went away. George was happily watching the TV.

Derek and Casey stood in front of George and Nora. Derek had never felt so nervous and for a moment he considered just dropping everything and bolting for safety. A look at Casey's slightly green visage told him she was nursing the same sentiments. He mouthed 'breathe' at her and took a deep breath himself.

George looked up to find his eldest children blocking his view of the TV. He was going to ask them to move when he noticed their faces; both of them looked pale and a little scared.

"George"

"Nora"

"We have something to say" they said simultaneously, inching closer to each other for moral support.

Nora and George sat up straighter and hoped to goodness that there wasn't any trouble because when Casey and Derek got together there was only word for the resulting mess-trouble.

"Well, go ahead and tell us" George tied to say as nonchalantly but he was unable to keep out the tremor of worry in his voice.

Derek and Casey stared at each other. How was one supposed to tell their parents that one was dating one's step sibling? If only there were a manual for these sorts of things, Casey knew she would have read it from to cover to cover. She and Derek were grasping at straws here.

"Well…" Derek started.

"The thing is…" Casey started.

They both started at the same time and then stopped, each hoping that the other would take the conversation forward. But there was no such luck. And then Derek decided to take the plunge. He knew if he went down at least Casey would go down with him.

"Okay, let me start over. See…the thing is we don't mean to shock you or anything but sometimes stuff just happens you know, especially liking other people and all. I mean we don't have a say in who we tend to like or fall in love with. It's an inexplicable thing you know, it just happens... and besides what happening is not wrong you know and it's not like anything major is happening."

George and Nora started at Derek.

"What exactly is happening, Derek?" Nora said fixing a stern eye on Derek.

"Ummm…me and Casey are dating…" Derek squeaked out, cowering under Nora's stern gaze.

"What? But you're… and you canno- wait…I don't get it… did you just say- you and Casey were dating?" George spluttered as he unceremoniously jumped up from the couch. Derek took a small step back.

George began pacing around muttering furiously while Nora's mouth hung slack-jawed.

"Yes…that's what Derek said, George" Casey said deciding to step in too. Derek looked at her gratefully. She gave him her hand and his hand curled around it. It was comforting knowing he was not alone.

"So what you mean to say is that…is that you and Derek are dating…" Nora said quietly standing up. Casey gripped Derek's hands tighter and sucked in a few more deep breaths.

"Yes…" she said and Derek smiled at her.

"But…you are…" Nora said helplessly waving her hands around.

"We are step siblings… and there is nothing wrong with that. It isn't incest you know" Derek said firmly.

"But what will people say?" George asked.

"They'll say whatever they want to. So let them... Sure they might make us feel awkward and question ourselves. They may hate us and bitch about us but _I don't really care_. It's not going to change our decision" Casey said firmly and with conviction.

Derek smiled at Casey, proud of what she had said. It was a big thing for Casey to admit that. Other people's opinions about her mattered immensely to her but here she was, ready to face everything.

"What if we say no?" Nora asked thoughtfully looking at the both of them and their intertwined hand.

"It's still not going to change, Mom." Casey said looking at her mom squarely in the eye.

"But what if it doesn't work out. Then isn't it going to mess-up everything for all of us? I am not really sure how we are going to deal with everything if you'll decide to break up. Family time is going to be a ticking bomb, waiting to explode and I for one I'm not sure if I want that." George said sitting down on the couch again.

"We know there is a possibility that things might not work out. but we promise we aren't going to act like inconsiderate ex-es. We just want a chance. Everything just might work out, you know..." Derek said his voice taking on an almost pleading note.

George and Nora stared at their children who were trying to look as responsible as they could while at the same time looking extremely hopeful. Nora sighed; the kids looked so grown up and yet so vulnerable. But she couldn't make the decision about them not being together. She had to accept that they were individuals who happened to be attracted to each other and who just so happened to be step-siblings.

She was at least glad they had decided to let George and her in on the secret. The mental picture of her and George walking in on Derek and Casey doing certain 'things' was particularly distressing.

"We are not going to say we are thrilled about this. This is not what every parent wants to hear from their kid. But at the same time we respect your decision to be together and we accept it. It's just that now we have to place some boundary lines because I do not want both of you barging into each other's rooms." Nora said, her cheeks slightly coloring.

Derek and Casey stared at each other, the glum looks on their faces replaced by huge smiles. Casey suddenly swooped on Derek's lips and before they knew it, either parent was privy to a make-out scene that they did not like very much had to accept.

"Ahem…" George cleared his throat loudly and noisily as possible. But the intertwined pair showed no signs of breaking apart. George cleared his throat once again, loudly.

"Boundary no. one, no…um…impromptu make-out sessions in front of the family. It might give us permanent nightmares" George said uncomfortably as the embarrassed teens broke apart and jumped a mile away from each other.

"And no more staying alone with each other until we establish some ground rules" Nora said.

"And you can go now" George said running a hand through his hair tiredly and sinking back into the couch.

"Just one, question what…um…brought about this…thing" Nora asked unable to use the word relationship in context with Derek and Casey.

Casey and Derek just smiled at each other and uttered two words before running up the stairs.

"Cousin Vicki"

Nora stared at after them. Suddenly everything clicked, Derek and Casey's awkward behavior around each other, the peace that had followed her departure and Derek and Casey's homework routine together…"

"And also no doing homework together!" she shouted after them.

An audible curse was heard followed by giggles.

"Nora, I'm sorry but I'm not inviting Vicki here again. I don't want Lizzie and Edwin dating next." George said pointedly as Nora snuggled unto him once again.

"But she brought us peace."

"Maybe some time in the near future?"

Nora swatted George and laughed. It was scary having to know that Derek and Casey were dating. It meant so many changes and having to face up to a lot of people. But something told her everything would be _just all right_.

* * *

_I hope it wasn't bad. I tried my best to do it properly. And this isn't the final chapter, there is one more chapter to go after this, it will be an epilogue because there are some loose ends I need to tie up. Anyways leave me a review with your thoughts on this chapter. :)_


	12. Epilogue Ten Years Later?

**So here it is, the final chapter, sorry it took me a while. It's an epilogue because I wanted to wrap up a few things and give it a proper ending. Un-beta'd. I hope you'll like this. **

**On another note, writing this story has been a blast for me. I have thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. But I guess the best part was reading about all of your reactions to it. I would like to thank each and every person who ever reviewed, alerted or favorited this story. Thank you for sticking with me and my slightly erratic updates till the end. You'll really made me very happy. Thank you all and I wish I could hug you all but the constraints of cyber space prevent me from doing so. However I can still give you all virtual hugs. So here you go...**

**-big constricting bear hug- :)**

**Still don't own LwD.**

**And now onto the story.**

* * *

_-ten years later-_

The house was buzzing with activity. Kids were running up and down, playing and shouting while grown ups whizzed in and out of rooms, looking slightly hassled.

In the middle of all this chaos sat Edwin, Lizzie and Marti on the couch. Edwin and Lizzie were watching everything around them with interest while Marti was talking on her cell phone. She had taken leave from university specifically for this occasion. Edwin and Lizzie too had begged off a few days from their respective jobs.

"Kids, come into the backyard. It's going to start" Nora's voice said floating over from the backyard.

"It's about time this happened" Edwin said helping Lizzie up.

"I know…I was beginning to despair of it ever happening" Lizzie said as she stood up and readjusted her dress, which she was not feeling very comfortable in but had only worn as a concession to the occasion at hand.

"Marti, you might want to stop yakking and tell your friend or whoever you'll call later" Edwin said pointedly to Marti who was still continuing her animated discussion on the phone. Marti rolled her eyes at this directive from Edwin but ended the conversation anyways. She stood up too and the three of them made their way to the backyard.

--

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have gathered here today to bless in holy matrimony…" The priest began.

So it was finally happening. After ten years of togetherness coupled with a few spats- cause every couple have them and a few pseudo breakups- because where would Derek and Casey be without some drama- Derek and Casey were getting married. Or as their family would put it, _finally_.

Sam and Emily were best man and maid of honor respectively. And while they did keep their attention on the bride and groom, they also exchanged quite a few looks - which if spoken aloud - would definitely be a cause of embarrassment to both of them.

The three younger kids were grinning and Nora was trying very hard not to sniffle into her handkerchief. Every had gone right, from the day they had gotten together till today. She couldn't help but feel happy. It was wonderful to be young and to be in love. And it was even more wonderful to see her eldest kids having found happiness in each other. She had promised Derek she wouldn't cry but when the vows began, she completely let go and the waterworks began.

George manfully held onto her and looked very happy himself. His two eldest children were getting married and they were both so deeply in love with each other that nothing else seemed to matter.

And for some people it may have been weird but George theorized that it could only be weird, if you made it weird for yourself. Shaking off his thought processes, he focused on the wedding. Rings were exchanged and the gathering broke into applause. Because this particular event had been a long time coming.

Derek and Casey smiled as they stood facing each other, holding hands. Casey remembered that day, ten years ago when she and Derek had stood in front of their parents, quaking in their shoes, asking for permission. Though Casey was pretty sure even if the rents hadn't said yes, she would have gone ahead anyways. Because there were sometimes when you knew, when you just knew that you were going to spend your life with a person despite whatever life threw at you. And Casey had known then, that Derek was that very person for her.

"Case? Don't space." Derek quipped.

"And that's your idea of a witty remark?"

"I'm love, so sue me"

"Cheesy but it'll do" Casey said giving Derek a kiss and smiling.

Derek offered Casey a hand and they began dancing. The guests watched the couple dance, happy to see a young couple so much in love. It shone on their faces and it was evident to everyone there. That Derek and Casey were really meant for each other.

--

They finished dancing the first dance and Casey decided that it was time to throw the bouquet. All the unmarried woman gathered behind her, some wanting to catch the bouquet and some deciding to be a part of the tradition just for fun. Casey turned around and threw the bouquet. There was a general scramble and Emily immediately took herself out of the way. She did want to get married but she wasn't sure if she wanted to lose a few body parts in the process of getting the bouquet.

"Didn't want to catch the bouquet?" a voice whispered into her ear.

Emily smiled as she turned around to face her boyfriend of ten years. They too had gotten together at around the same time as Derek and Casey. Maybe a month earlier than them.

"Naah, losing my body parts wasn't worth it" Emily said as she straightened his tie.

"Well that's a shame cause I got such a pretty ring. I guess I'll just have to go back and return it" Sam said in a melodramatic voice.

"Sam Miller?"

"Will you do me the honor of being my wife, Emily Davis?" Sam said getting down on one knee and holding out a sparkling solitaire diamond ring.

"Oh my God!!!Of course!! I mean yes!!" Emily said squealing as she held out hand.

Sam slipped the ring onto her finger and stood up, while the people around them began applauding and congratulating them. Emily launched herself at Sam and gave him a kiss which told him just how much she adored him. Sam to his credit stood his ground and caught Emily in his arms as she kissed him. Emily finally detached herself from Sam and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before running away to tell Casey about the good news.

Meanwhile Sam was left feeling his lips, as if in a daze. That was by far the best kiss he had ever received. He thanked his lucky stars for the fact that he had a wonderful girlfriend like Emily and he thanked them some more for the fact that he was now going to marry her very soon. He then snapped out of his daze. He had to find where Emily was, she just couldn't leave a guy hanging after kissing like that. He immediately set off to find her.

--

Derek and Casey were staring into each other's eyes dreamily and dancing while doing so – which was quite a feat in itself. Edwin and Lizzie were awkwardly moving and after sometime they gave up on dancing, preferring instead to nurse a drink and chat about their respective live. Sam and Emily were dancing and occasionally exchanging kisses too. Marti was dancing with a young spiky haired man and flirting with him too while Nora was having to forcibly restrain George from breaking up Marti and her partner.

"She's eighteen Georgie. She can dance and flirt with a guy if she wants too"

"But…she is still my little girl and...and he's..." George was sputtering and turning slightly red

"And what am I, a statue?"

"Nope, you are my very lovely wife, who I'm gonna dance with right now" George said, turning his attention back to Nora who was currently giving him the evil eye.

"Hmpf…"

"You know you love me"

"Well…I suppose I do" Nora said smiling as she began dancing.

--

Meanwhile Vicki sat down at a table, wanting to rest her feet for a moment. There were two other women there who were watching Derek and Casey dance.

"Tell me, were they always like this with each other?" one woman asked addressing Vicki.

"Like what?"

"So…in love" the woman said smiling at them.

"Actually when they first met, there was no love lost between them. They pretty much hated each other and annoyed the hell out of each other." Vicki said taking a sip of wine.

"Really? Then how did this all happen…?" the woman asked bemused as she waved her hand around indicating the wedding and a dreamy Derek and Casey

This was when Vicki sat up a little straighter with a gleam in her eyes; she'd always wanted to tell someone this. How her presence had been instrumental in making Derek and Casey come together.

"It all began with one little phone call from me to Casey. And then began this little game I'd like to call false pretenses…"

_- le fin -_

* * *

**There you go ladies and gentlemen( if any). Please review one last time? It would make me uber-ly happy. :)**


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